The summer of 2015 saw me retire from traveling & fitting saddles. I’ve embarked on a single path of bench saddlery & repair. The repair world was my first love before I started fitting & flocking saddles in 2005. Previous, starting in 2000 I was very fortunate to start working for & apprenticing with Gary Severson learning the skills & trade of saddlery. After 5 years I split my time between repair & fitting.

Most of my clients never knew that my full time job, 5+ days a week, was saddle repairs. The traveling & fitting was my public / part time job 2 days a week. But behind the scenes I did repairs not only for my own clients, but also for other fitters & tack shops, and even warranty work for a small handful of saddle brands.

Before I burned out working 7 days a week, I decided to slow down to a more reasonable pace and retire from traveling & fitting and focus on the repairs once again. I’m fortunate to have had a very successful 12 year career in fitting & flocking, perhaps one day I’ll travel again?

As for saddlery repair, I’ve continued my education most notably with the Society of Master Saddlers. But take advantage of every source of information & skill I can. I’ve had the good fortune to rub elbows with several master saddlers and trades men & women along the way, collecting tidbits of knowledge & idea’s where I can.

I truly love what I do, and feel gratitude that I get to make a living doing something I love. I take pride in my work, and hopefully it comes through in the end result. I’m thrilled to be back at the bench and focusing on repair work, life is good.